MEMORIES“Sometimes we never know the value of moments until they become memories"

Life we know is all about relationships; making, working out and breaking. As has become one of my favorite sayings, "we meet to part and part to meet", then the circle starts all over again, but what remains constantly with us are memories.

Memories could be so painful, as they remind us of the hurt we were made to feel by this person we loved so much and could give our lives for, up until they tossed the love into the drains and walked away without looking back, leaving us in hurt and tears.

Memories could be so annoying, as they constantly remind us of the mistakes we made and how unwise we had acted, out of greed, lack of insight or sheer senselessness. They constantly rub our past mistakes in our face, causing many to sulk into regret or self pity.

Memories could make us so thankful, as they remind us of that period in the past when we were seconds away from death and all of a sudden there was a divine intervention or whatever you choose to call it, and you happened to just sit and stare into the open space not understanding how it happened.

Memories could make us so happy, as they remind us of how well things went in the past even when we hadn’t expected them to. Such moments that we had wished could just stay on, if not even for too long, but they soon passed, leaving us to only reminisce.

Memories sadden us, make us happy, drives us crazy (or some rather), and makes us either wish those experiences could come again, or never even happened.

Joan had a devastating experience when she was 10. Being raped by her uncle, the cruelest among all the other ones she faced, she found herself running away from her thoughts, almost going mad in the process, anytime she remembers those happenings which are now decades past. At a point she thought she had moved on, but anytime she got close to a man almost to the extent of intimacy, those doors she thought she had closed suddenly came open and she found herself going back into tears. Well, today she’s married, has two lovely kids and a wonderful husband. When asked how she was able to conquer her memories she simply replied with a smile, "I created newer, better and happier ones, and they automatically pushed the sad ones out".

That’s life! You’re being tormented with bad memories, go create new and happier ones and see yourself smiling out of the sad ones.

Chris didn’t need to struggle to have anything he needed, as he had them the moment he made the request. Being the only child to billionaire parents, he had everything he could ever have dreamed of, well up until both parents died in an automobile crash. At 13 he then faced the other side of life. The bank didn’t even give him time to mourn before coming to confiscate the house and other of his father’s properties all in the name of settling a loan he had collected but couldn’t pay. That was the beginning of life for Chris as his suffering story started. To cut the long story, he’s a successful business man today, and when asked how he made it despite all he said, "when I discovered that the memories of the past kept bringing me down, I channeled them to give me the right energy as I kept telling myself that if my parents could have given be all I wanted, then I can get all I want without them. That was the beginning!"

Memories work better for us when they are channeled into sources of strength, motivation, determination and self will, instead of letting them bring regret, shame and depression. The past is passed, the present is God’s gift to us; a present. Memories are the only way we can keep in touch with and learn from the past.

Sometimes we never know the value of moments until they become memories, we never know the value of that person who loves us until they’ve left, we never know how much we meant to that person until we’ve successfully frustrated them.

Our memories today are products of yesterday’s actions, your actions today are tomorrow’s memories, are you carving out good ones? A little good morning and good night text, a little call to say hi, a little show of appreciation doesn’t do any harm, do they? At this point I’ve had memories flash by, sure you had yours too. Make life worth living.